


Saving Chara

by NoItsBecky_127



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Blind Frisk, Chara and Frisk need hugs, Chara is alive, Determination has consequences, F/M, Female Chara, Female Frisk, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mild Language, POV Chara, POV First Person, POV Frisk, Protective Chara, Soft Chara, Suicidal Thoughts, implied depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-09-08 15:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8850637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoItsBecky_127/pseuds/NoItsBecky_127
Summary: They didn't know it wasn't meant to happen.Frisk didn't know how badly she'd messed everything up simply by being there.Chara didn't know the lengths Frisk had gone to for this to happen.All they did know was that they'd fallen down a hole, Frisk was blind now, and there was a goat family taking care of them.So...yeah. Not exactly your average day.





	1. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk escape their hellish life. Crap goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'd like to say that this fanfic was co-written by my lovely friend who has no account on here but goes by CrazyCupcakes online.
> 
> Second, Frisk is not blind at the start.
> 
> Third, if you can't figure out who Clarissa and Fiona are supposed to be, stop for a moment and think.
> 
> All that being said, enjoy!

This was a dumb idea.

I had nothing. Nothing except my clothes and a knife I'd stolen from our sorry excuse for a kitchen. I'd never survive out there in the real world-I'd never lived anywhere except here and the orphanage; how would I function with barely anything to my name and no life experience?

But nevertheless, I was still going to run away.

I felt horrible for doing this without Fiona. We'd spent years talking in secret at night about how we would someday run away together and make our own lives, and now I was just up and leaving without her.

The fact of the matter, though, was that however badly I would do in life, Fiona would do a thousand times worse. She didn't want to harm anyone unless she absolutely had to, and she probably wouldn't decide she had to until it was too late, knowing her.

I was doing my best to step lightly, but I supposed it wasn't enough with how old this place was. I winced as a floorboard creaked loudly.

Okay. Maybe nobody had heard. Maybe it wouldn't matter. Maybe everyone was too deeply asleep. It would all be fine.

And then a bedroom door opened.

Well, crap. I was done for. Mother would kill me when she found out that I'd been planning to run away, and whoever had just left their room would sure as hell tell her.

At least, that was what I thought until Fiona stepped out.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Fiona wouldn't rat me out.

But then I realized: she would be pissed that I was trying to leave without her. She would be pissed beyond belief.

"Clarissa, what the hell are you doing?" She hissed, walking over to me.

I searched frantically through my mind for a response. Some sort of excuse. Finally, I stalled for time with, "Shut up, Fiona! If Mother hears you-"

"And what if she hears you?" Fiona snapped. "Listen here, Clarissa. I want to know what the hell you're sneaking around in the middle of the night for, and I won't shut up until you tell me."

Clenching my teeth, I forced out the truth. "I'm running away."

Fiona's dark eyes turned angry. "You what?! Oh, I'm sorry, were you just kidding when we promised each other not to leave without the other? Or do I just not matter as much to you as you do to me?!" She snapped.

"Fiona, I'm sorry, but-" That was all I got out.

"Don't give me that 'sorry' crap!" She interrupted. "Clarissa, I've been waiting for this for years. The abuse, the work, the horrible living conditions, the only reason I put up with it was so someday, we could make a plan to run away together and get out of this hellhole. Dammit, Clarissa, it was all. For. You!" Fiona pointed an accusing finger at me. "But no! That wasn't enough for you, now was it? You talk about how disgusting humans are, but really, you're just as bad."

"Fiona, please, let me explain." I begged.

"Fine." Fiona crossed her arms. "Go ahead, Clarissa. Explain."

Before I could, though, there was the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing. We both froze.

I could barely coax my head to turn enough to see who had left their room. The moment I saw who it was, though, my blood turned to ice water.

Because it was her.

Mother.

"Well, look what happened here." She said menacingly. "Clarissa, Fiona, care to explain what you're doing awake?"

"It-it was an accident, Mother." Fiona stammered.

"It was my fault!" I jumped in.

"What? No-" Fiona was cut off by a cruel chuckle.

"You girls are lucky to even be here. You could just as easily be living on the streets. And as I recall, the way you pay me back for letting you live here is by following my rules. One of these rules is that once you go to bed, you may not ever get out until I say you can. And did I say you could?"

"N-no, Mother." I managed.

"Therefore, you have broken a rule. And," Another cruel laugh, "if I recall correctly, rule breakers have to be punished!"

"Wait!" I exclaimed. "Don't hurt Fiona. This was my fault. Just give me all of the punishment."

Mother shook her head. "Believe me, Clarissa, I'd love to. However, Fiona here has also broken a rule; so you both have to be punished." That was when her eyes drifted down and she saw the knife in my hand. I felt myself tense.

She would know where I'd gotten it from. Stealing and being out of bed at night...I'd broken two of her most important rules. The punishment would be horrible.

In that moment, something inside of me changed. "You can't hurt me anymore." I snapped. "You can't hurt Fiona anymore. And you know what? You're never going to hurt anyone again." With almost no input from my brain, my legs jumped forward and my arm drove the (very sharp) knife through Mother's chest.

There was a moment of deafening silence before Mother fell to her knees in weakness. "Wow. Guess you…had some guts…after all. You're…just as bad…as me…Clarissa. See you in…hell." Her eyes went blank, and she slumped down. Grimacing, I reached over and pulled the knife out of her chest.

Next to me, Fiona was shaking violently. "Clarissa, you-you killed her." She stammered.

Staring at that bloody knife, it suddenly registered, and I began to laugh hysterically.

"C-Clarissa?" Fiona looked at me, concerned.

"You're right, Fiona." I managed. "I really am just as bad as them, aren't I? I killed her. Dammit, Fiona, I'm such a monster!" This wasn't funny. Why was I laughing? I didn't know why, but I was.

"Clarissa, stop it." Fiona grabbed me, and I did my best to calm myself. "That's not what I meant when I said you're just as bad as them. I was just upset. Listen, sometimes you don't have a choice but to attack. You've lived here for years; I think it's safe to say that you didn't have a choice."

"No." I backed away. "Get away from me, Fiona. I'm a killer. I'm bad. You shouldn't be around me."

"Clarissa, none of that is true! You did what you had to!" Fiona insisted.

I clenched my teeth. "Don't you get it, Fiona?! I just murdered someone. Look at this!" I held up the bloody knife. "Does this seem okay? Do I seem like someone you still want to be around?"

"Shut. The. Hell. Up." Fiona clenched her teeth. "Clarissa, as much as I hate to admit it, some people don't deserve mercy. You don't get to beat yourself up for saving our lives."

"Fine." I said reluctantly. "We don't have to talk about it again." Of course, that didn't mean I wouldn't be screaming at myself on the inside. "But…what do we do now?"

Fiona shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we just…run."

She wanted me to run? I'd run.

This would keep her safe. It would get her away from a killer like me.

"Okay." Turning around, I shoved the door open and dashed away.

"Clarissa!" Fiona screamed. "Come back!" I chanced a quick glance back and saw that she was running after me. Picking up the pace, I headed in the direction of the one place I knew she wouldn't follow me.

Mount Ebott.

Everyone knew the legends. If you climb the mountain, you disappear. Me? I was all for disappearing. But Fiona? Not so much. She was a good person. She could make it in life. She was cute, and pretty, and no doubt someone would take pity on the pretty little girl with nobody in her life. Me, though, I wasn't like that. I couldn't get help from anyone. Between me and Fiona, people would choose Fiona every damn time. Fiona, with her kind nature. Fiona, with her bright smile. Fiona, with her normal eyes.

And that was why, when I came to the gaping hole that seemed to have no bottom, I didn't shy away.

"Clarissa!" I heard Fiona scream. No. She wasn't here. She couldn't be. Was she really going to go this far just for me?!

She was getting closer. There wasn't time.

Without thinking, I threw myself into the hole. The last thing I heard was Fiona's scream of despair.

It was better this way.

"Clarissa!"

Everything hurt.

Why was everything hurting? Why was I feeling pain? Why was I feeling anything at all? I was supposed to be dead!

That was how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to die so I couldn't hurt anyone else.

And why had Fiona just screamed my name?!

Oh my God. She hadn't followed me. She wouldn't have. She couldn't have.

But when I saw her appear in the doorway with strangely blank eyes, something that didn't look human beside her, my suspicions were confirmed.

"Fiona?!" I exclaimed. "What's that-that thing next to you?!"

Fiona shrugged.

"Don't you shrug at me! That's not human!"

"Oh." Fiona said. "It's not?"

"How can you not tell?!"

"Okay, um…" Fiona paused. "Don't freak out, but I'm kind of, uh, blind…"

"What."

"You heard me." Fiona was surprisingly calm. "I followed you down that hole, and apparently I hit my head on impact, and now I can't see."

"Oh my God…" I felt sick. "Well, then you should probably know that there's a humanoid goat beside you."

Now Fiona was the one to say, "What."

"Clarissa here is correct." The goat spoke up. Its voice was feminine, and I supposed it looked feminine enough for a goat; I figured it was safe to call it a girl. "Everyone down here except for you two is a monster."

Fiona's expression shifted into anger. "I'm sorry, what?! You seriously had the nerve to take advantage of my blindness like that?! Jeez, and here I thought you cared."

"Well, I would not think of it that way." The goat lady said.

"Oh? Then how should we think of it?!" I demanded.

"You have barely been conscious for a few minutes. I believed that we needed to figure out the situation at hand before going into details."

"Details?" I snapped. "You call the fact that you're a monster and that you're probably going to kill us details?!"

"What? Kill you? Children, I would never do such a thing!"

"How can we trust you?!" Fiona demanded.

The goat lady sighed. "Well, I was hoping to wait until you were more settled in before introducing you, but…Asriel, dear, you may come in now!"


	2. Asriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk meet Asriel. Oh, and other stuff happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Chara's POV.

I clenched my fists, waiting for this Asriel to enter the room.

I don't know what I expected to come in, but it sure as hell wasn't what I saw.

Because what came in was a goat creature similar to the woman, but smaller. He (?) was about my and Fiona's size, and he wore a green and yellow striped sweater similar to mine, but with two stripes instead of one. "Howdy!" He said.

Judging by the sound of his voice, size, and general appearance, he was a child. He clearly wasn't hurt.

I backed down, but was still wary. "I swear, if you do something to us…"

"I promise, my child, I will not."

"I," I seethed. "am _not_ your child!"

"Oh, I am sorry, Clarissa. It is a habit of mine."

"I can see that."

"Mommy? Should I leave?" Asriel asked innocently. He seemed nice. I couldn't help but wonder who his father was. Was this a whole goat family they had?

"I am sorry, my child, but yes, that would probably be for the best. I will attempt to heal their wounds. You may help yourself to some butterscotch-cinnamon pie, but make sure not to take too much.

"Haha! I won't, Mom."

He left the room.

That's what that scent was! Pie! Well if she has pie…very few killers or kidnappers have adorably innocent sons and make pie.

"Okay, if this is done…Clarissa-" I cut Fiona off.

"Chara."

"Sorry?" Fiona looked confused.

"The only part of that nonexistent plan of ours was to change our names. We're in a new place, so we may as well use those names. My name's Chara now. Don't call me Clarissa anymore."

"Oh."

"Is there something else you want me to call you?"

Fiona paused for a second. "...call me Frisk."

"Okay."

"In any case, I need you to help me. If I can't see, I'll need you to make sure I know what's happening."

I nodded. "I can do that."

"So, children, you prefer to be called Chara and Frisk. Well, then, my ch-Uh, Chara and Frisk, allow me to heal you."

She put her hands on both our heads, and suddenly my body hurt a lot less. The goat lady kept murmuring things about maximum HP, whatever that was. I could also make out some other things she said. She muttered something about "breaking it with souls" and "he had better not get any ideas" and stuff like that. I couldn't help but wonder what she was talking about.

"There, young ones, you are almost healed. Chara, you will have a limp for a small while, but it will go away with time."

My body still hurt a little, but I could move around a lot better, and I could think straighter.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Toriel."

"Huh?"

"You may call me Toriel."

"Okay. Well, thank you, Toriel."

After a while, Frisk started to talk. She had hardly talked at all so far.

"Thank you, Mom-uh, Toriel."

Did she just call her…?

"Did…did you just call me…Mom?"

"Uh…" Frisk looked a little scared.

"Well, would that make you happy? To call me…Mother?"

"Y-yes." Frisk stuttered out. "It would."

"Okay, my child. You may call me Mom. Oh, you do not mind me calling you that, do you?"

Say yes, say yes, say yes, say you mind…

"No. I don't mind." Frisk answered.

Well, so much for that.

Why did Frisk trust this woman so easily?

Maybe it was because she couldn't see her. All Frisk knew was Toriel's motherly voice and caring actions. I suppose that could result in a pretty different opinion from my distrust of her. I was still wary of Toriel, though.

"Follow me." Toriel instructed. She left the room and headed down the hall. I took Frisk's hand and led her where Toriel was going. She brought us to a decently-sized room with two comfortable-looking beds. "You girls may have some time to yourselves if you wish. I will bring you some pie soon."

With that, she left the room. Once the door shut, an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. "So…" I trailed off. "We're in a red room. There are two twin-sized beds on either side. They have a red quilted blanket that looks pretty soft. There is a fluffy pillow. It's bigger than the ones at the orphanage, but it's still kid-sized. There's a closet on one wall with a few articles of clothing inside. In the left corner is a box of toys for little kids. There's a desk in the corner with two blank books and a cup holding some writing tools. There's a wooden dresser with a mirror on the wall above it." I finished my explanation. Hopefully I'd done well. Frisk seemed satisfied, which meant it was probably good enough for her.

"Huh, you're pretty good. At least, I think you are. I can't see, obviously, so maybe it's the most inaccurate description ever. Guess I'll never know."

Heh. At least she still had a sense of humor.

Frisk felt her way over to the bed on the right and made her way under the covers. "We should probably get some rest." She said. "It's been a long, confusing day. Uh…has it been a day?"

"How long were we out?" I asked.

"Hell if I know. I guess we can ask later. I'm tired."

"Same."

I got into bed and lay down, but sleep wouldn't come.

This was my fault. I'd run away from that orphanage, and I hadn't had the good sense to turn back once we'd found ourselves on Mount frickin' Ebott. Because I'd wanted to disappear. And now because of my actions, Frisk was blind.

I should have waited for her. We'd agreed to it. But I'd been so impatient, I'd tried to leave on my own.

What was wrong with me?

I soon drifted off into blissful sleep that turned out not to be so blissful. Frisk and I were on Mount Ebott, watching our past selves run up the mountain. The past me and the past Frisk were oblivious to the present me and Frisk, but the present Frisk was yelling at me. Saying that it was my fault that she was blind.

The worst part was that she was right.

I shot up in bed, screaming and drenched in my own sweat.

Toriel ran in. "My ch-Chara, are you alright?"

I sighed. "Yeah. Nightmare."

"It is almost morning. Would you like to sleep more, or would you prefer to stay awake?"

"I'll stay up."

"Alright. I am not certain if anyone else is awake, so we should be quiet."

You don't say?

Frisk stirred a little. "What's happening?"

"Nothing." I answered. "I just had a nightmare."

"Okay." Frisk muttered. Normally, she would have tried to comfort me, but I suppose having just gone blind and being incredibly tired weren't great combinations, so she rolled over and, presumably, went back to sleep. I didn't blame her.

"Mom?"

Oh, lovely. Asriel was here.

"Oh, Asriel, what are you doing awake?" Toriel asked Asriel.

"I heard screaming, and then I heard moving. I was already awake, so I figured I'd check it out."

"It's fine." I said. "I just had a nightmare."

"Oh. About what? Um, if you don't mind me asking, of course!" Asriel quickly added. Heh, he was so innocent. It was cute, in a way.

"I'd prefer not to answer that." I replied.

"Uh, well…" There was silence for a moment. "Do you…want to film something with me? I have a video camera."

I shrugged. "Sure."

A few minutes later, Asriel had retrieved his video camera, and we headed outside into the garden. Turning it towards the two of us, he pressed a button that I assumed started the recording. "Howdy!" He said in a surprisingly energetic voice, considering it was 5:00 in the morning.

I couldn't help myself. "Why do you say that?"

"Say what?"

"Howdy."

Asriel shrugged. "Dad says it." Okay, there was a dad. I had yet to meet this dad. "And I like the way it sounds."

"Cool." I replied simply. "So…what do you do with the camera?"

"I don't know. Just random things, I guess."

"Okay…"

"So, Chara, how'd you and your sister wind up down here? If you don't mind me asking, that is." Asriel clarified.

I sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say that our reason for climbing? It's not a happy reason."

Asriel nodded. "Okay. Wait a sec…" He paused, looking at the camera. "I left the lens cap on by mistake. Dang it."

"Meh. Did we really film anything worth watching?"

"No, not really." Asriel admitted, and we both laughed. He turned off the camera. "So, how are you doing?"

I shrugged. "I really don't know, to be honest. I feel like this is all a dream and I'll wake up and…" I trailed off. No need to go into detail about my old life.

"And?"

"And nothing."

"Okay." Asriel seemed unconvinced, but he didn't pry.

Nobody spoke for a while after that.


	3. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk learn about magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is back to Frisk's POV.

It turned out that being blind in a place I'd never seen proved to be a major inconvenience. Toriel was baking something, but she had to keep helping me up when I tripped over just about everything a girl could trip over.

"Here, use this." Toriel instructed after she helped me up for, like, the seventh time. I felt a stick being pressed into my right hand.

"What am I going to do with a stick?" I questioned.

"Use it as a guide." She explained.

I began to tap it in front of me, cautiously making my way around the room. When it bumped into something, I reached out in front of me, trying to figure out what had stopped me.

My hands hit smooth wood. I ran my fingers up and down, but it didn't appear to change. "Is this a wall?" I asked.

Toriel nodded. "Yes, it is. You should go walk around with that and get used to using it." I could tell that she was smiling.

I made my way through more of the house, always tapping the stick in front of me to avoid tripping. When I came to what I presumed was the door, I heard voices.

I felt along the door until smooth wood turned to a metal knob. Keeping my hand on it, I decided to eavesdrop.

"Hey, the sun's rising." That was...what was his name again? Asriel, I was pretty sure.

"Sun? But we're-" That was definitely Clarissa. Chara. That was definitely Chara.

"Underground? Well, I guess we technically don't have a sun, but we've used magic so what we've got is close enough to the real thing." Asriel explained.

Wait, what?

_Magic?!_

Nobody had mentioned that part!

I supposed now it made sense that Toriel had been able to heal me and Chara so quickly.

Chara had a similar reaction, only hers was verbal. "You have magic?!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah." Asriel answered.

"What can magic do?"

"A bunch of things." He said. "There's a bunch of different types of magic. My parents have fire magic, which is basically what it sounds like. They're a couple of the most powerful monsters. And there's this girl that Dad trains-her magic can basically create spears, which actually fits her pretty well. Also, she can turn SOULs green, which makes it so you can't run away. And there are these two skeleton brothers over in Snowdin. They can make bones with magic, and they can turn SOULs blue, which makes gravity affect you a lot more. Attack magic tends to be specific to one or a few monsters, and it relates to what kind of a monster they are or what their personality is. But there are kinds of magic that aren't for fighting, and that any monster can learn. Some are inherently better at certain types than others, though. There's light magic, levitation magic, healing magic-Mom used that on you and Frisk yesterday-and a lot of others."

I decided to reveal myself then. I turned the knob, and to my surprise, the door was unlocked. I pushed it open and made my way outside.

"Oh, hey Frisk!" Chara said.

"Hey!" I said.

"You sleep okay?" Asriel asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. You two?"

"Not really." Chara answered. "I had a nightmare."

I flinched. "Really? What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"I'd rather not answer that." I could tell Chara was looking away.

"So, I overheard you two talking about magic." I said. "And I want to hear more."

There was silence for a couple seconds before I felt a furry hand on my left arm. "I'll bring you to where we're sitting, and then you can hear all there is to hear about magic."

"Okay." I let Asriel guide me to where he and Chara were sitting. I felt around, and I was able to figure out that they were sitting against a wall. I sat down.

"So, what do you two want to know?"

"How _do_ you make this, quote unquote, sun, anyway? I thought-"

Asriel cut Chara off.

"We used fire magic, light magic, levitation magic and even more. I don't really know the details, honestly." Asriel admitted.

"You know, I still can't believe you have _magic_." I commented.

"Heh, yeah, there's magic down here. Humans used to have it, but judging by the way you two reacted, I'm guessing you don't anymore."

Chara and I gasped.

"Is there any way to get magic?" Chara asked.

I tried not to get my hopes up, but he had to say yes. He just had to.

"I don't know." Asriel admitted.

Oh.

"Dad talks about it pretty often, but I honestly don't listen much. It can be pretty boring." Magic? Boring? Was he crazy? Well, I supposed that if you grew up with something, it could get boring. "I think he's said that when a human makes contact with monster magic, they may present a SOUL. I honestly don't know much more than that. It can get pretty complicated, from what I can tell. You should ask my dad about that."

"You know, I was wondering…who _is_ your dad?" I asked.

"His name's Asgore. He's the king of monsters." Asriel answered.

Wait, _what?_

"The _king?!_ Wait, if your dad is…would that make you…a prince?!" Chara exclaimed.

"Yeah. Don't humans have them, too?"

"In some parts of the world, yeah. But where Frisk and I are from, we have presidents instead of kings."

"Cool. Wait." There was a pause where some nonverbal action probably went down. I could hear someone sniffing. And it smelled like…burning.

"Mom!" Asriel exclaimed. Chara grabbed my arm, and we stood up and ran.

We rushed inside what I now figured was the castle.

"MOM, THE STOVE!" Asriel screamed.

I felt heat, and there was the overpowering scent of smoke. The stove was on fire; I could tell.

I heard something spray, and then Asriel exclaimed, "Mom! Why were you using the stove? First of all, you barely know how, and second, you have fire magic for cooking!"

Oh. Well, then.

Chara tightened her grip on my arm, and I felt her nails digging in even through my sweater.

"Asriel, my child, I did not want to subject Chara and Frisk to monster magic just yet." I heard Toriel explain. "I was not sure if they were ready. After all, they have just fallen down."

"Mom, they were just asking me about magic." Asriel's voice was deadpan.

There was silence for a moment. "Well, if they are already curious…perhaps they may be more ready then I first thought."

I felt my lips curl into a smile.

"I think we…" I trailed off. Chara didn't trust her. She probably wasn't ready. I knew I was, though.

"Oh, my child, I was not aware that you were listening. Oh, I am sorry. Did I cut you off?

"No. I believe that I am ready for magic." I said firmly.

"Well, then, I must talk to Asgore. He knows these things much better than I do."

I could sense that Chara was looking at me.

"Chara..." Toriel said, "Do you believe that you are ready?"

There was silence.

"I don't know, but do know that I'm not leaving Frisk. Don't think this means you've earned my trust, though, because I still don't trust you entirely."

"Alright, my ch...I mean, Chara."

After lunch we were going to meet Asgore.

Half of me, the still sane and sensible part of me, was worried. I couldn't show Chara, though. If I did, she would harm people until I wasn't scared anymore. She would hurt not only the monsters who so much as looked at me, but…also herself. If Chara hurt that many living beings, it would hurt her in the process. It would destroy her mentally. Chara and I weren't biologically related, but we were close enough that we called ourselves sisters. And having to watch her destroy herself for my benefit…it would be horrible.

I mean, in all honestly, I didn't care much for so called monsters that I couldn't even see and barely knew, but something told me that they were or would be connected to me. It was like they were my family, yet they were closer than any human other than Chara had ever been. We were linked as if it were fate. It felt like, even though I'd only just met them, I'd known them for months.

Chara felt connected to me in the same way, but she also felt corruptible. I could only hope no one would use that to their advantage.

Anyway, after lunch, we met Asgore. Toriel told us that he was in the garden. When we got there, I felt Chara stiffen next to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked her quietly.

"He-he's a..."

I stepped back cautiously. What was he?

"He's a goat!"

What.

"How many goat people are down here? Did we fall into goat hell?!" Chara exclaimed.

Let's just say that the one time we'd ever seen a kindly farm animal, Chara didn't get along with it.

"Chara, what does he look like?" I asked.

"As I've stated, he's _another_ goat man. He has a blonde beard. He's tall, and has a small gold crown with a small red jewel in the middle. He has a long blue cape that wraps around him. On top of the cape, over his shoulders, there are gold, sort of pointed, shoulder pads. He's holding a blue watering can decorated with a golden flower." Chara explained.

"Howdy! You must be the humans Tori told me about." A voice that I assumed was this Asgore person said. He sounded like he wasn't much older than Toriel.

"Yep. That's us." I said.

I heard footsteps. Since Chara didn't move, I assumed Asgore was coming closer to us. "Now, the one with the green and yellow sweater and red eyes is Chara, correct?" Asgore asked.

"Yes." Chara said. I could tell from her voice that her teeth were clenched.

"So that would make you Frisk. The one with the pink and blue striped sweater and the stick."

I nodded. "That's me."

"I believe that Tori said you were blind; is this true?"

I sighed and nodded again.

"If you plan on hurting us, I have a knife." Chara snapped.

Asgore laughed. "Children, I have no intentions of hurting you. Nobody down here does."

"That's what they all say." Chara scoffed. "What makes you so different?"

There was silence.

Asgore sighed. "Well, I suppose I cannot force you to believe me. I can only hope that you will come to trust us over time. For now, Tori told me that you wanted to know about magic. How about I make some tea and we can drink it while I explain it to you?"

"Sure." I said before Chara could snap at him. She was too suspicious of them; someone had to do something about that.

"Well, then follow me."

Chara took my left arm, guiding me. "If he turns on us, don't worry. I really do have a knife." She whispered.

"I highly doubt that you'll need it, but okay." I replied.

Nobody spoke for a minute until Chara said, "Alright, he's brought us into the kitchen. He's opening a cabinet. He's taking out tea bags. He's-"

"Chara." I cut her off. "You don't need to describe every single action of him making tea to me." I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"Okay, fine. He's making tea." Chara summarized.

"Better."

"You may sit down." Asgore said. "The tea will be ready in a few minutes."

I made my way over to a chair, and was surprisingly able to get into it without help. I was really a natural at this whole 'being blind' thing.

"Now, what would you like to know?" Asgore inquired.

"Can humans get magic?" I asked almost immediately.

There was a moment for silence before my question was answered, "I don't know." Asgore admitted. "It has been centuries since monsters lived on the surface, and you two are the first humans to ever survive the fall. I see no reason why you couldn't, though. Long ago, back when monsters lived among humans, many humans did have magic. In fact, that was what they used to trap us down here."

"Wait... _trapped_ you?!" Chara exclaimed.

"Yes. Long ago, war broke out between humans and monsters. The humans won, and seven human magicians created a barrier sealing us down here. Anything can enter, but nothing can exit."

"So...we're stuck down here?" I asked slowly, trying to process this.

"Unfortunately, yes. However, my family and I will take care of you. Don't worry."

"Just stop for one second." Chara said. "I think we both need time to take this in."

"Alright."

That was when there was the sound of a door opening, as well as the sound of footsteps that got progressively louder before stopping, and then a voice said, "Hey, Asgore, I'm here-whoa. Where'd the humans come from?" The voice was rugged and feminine, and whoever was talking sounded like she was a couple years older than Chara and I.

"Oh! Howdy, Undyne! You're early." Asgore said.

Great. More monsters.


	4. Undyne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne is introduced and other stuff happens.

On the bright side, this mountain wasn't completely filled with goats.

But what the hell even was this?

Whoever had just walked in appeared to be…a fish girl.

Yeah.

She was tall, and her scales were blue. What? I did say she was a fish monster. Anyway, she had flaming red hair in a long ponytail, and she looked like she could kill me and Frisk if she wanted to.

So hopefully she didn't want to.

I tightened my grip around my knife.

"Yeah, I didn't have much to do so I decided to show up a little early today. But seriously, where the hell did the humans come from?" The girl asked.

"They fell late last night." Asgore explained. "I planned to announce them to the Underground today or tomorrow. The one with the red eyes is Chara, and the one with the blue-and-pink sweater is Frisk. Girls, this is Undyne." He pulled out a chair for her. "Sit down; there's tea being made."

Undyne sat down and replied, "Dude, aren't you worried about how people will react? I mean, humans have kept us trapped down here for centuries. You really think everyone's going to be all chipper and nice about this?" She did have a point. If it had been the other way around, I'd be pretty damn disgusted if a monster fell down here. Besides, these monsters were completely in the right if they hated humans.

After all, I was human, and look how I'd turned out.

"Undyne, you said it yourself-that was centuries ago." Asgore pointed out. "Besides, do these two look capable of harming anyone? You're barely any older than them."

"We're right here, you know." Frisk said, her voice deadpan. "Blind and deaf are not the same thing; I can hear you both just fine, and I'm guessing Chara can too." I turned to glance at her, trying not to cringe at her eyes. They were looking straight at Asgore, yet they seemed to look through him. It sickened me, knowing what I'd caused.

"Well, then do either of you plan on hurting us?" The fish girl-Undyne-asked.

"Depends." I replied, becoming aware of the cold metal handle my right hand was still clenched tightly around. "Lay a single goddamn finger on Frisk, and you'll regret the day you came into existence. But leave her alone, and you won't be hurt."

Undyne's eyes narrowed. "Look, I get that you care a lot about her, but you can't have that kind of attitude and then expect us to trust you."

"No? Well, then I guess you'll just have to keep your hands off of Frisk."

"Chara, stop." Frisk's quiet voice startled me. "They don't want to harm us."

"They say that, but she said that, too." I reminded her.

Frisk flinched before saying, "Don't compare them to each other. There's no way in hell these monsters are anything like her."

"How do you know that for sure?!" I snapped.

"Dammit, Chara, I just know! Besides, there were signs that she wanted to hurt us from the beginning, now that I think back. Her fake smile, her dark, mysterious way of dressing, her angry nature, and let's not forget the black whip in her back pocket."

I knew, deep down, that Frisk was probably right, but I wasn't about to show it. "You know what? Fine. I'm still going to be on guard, though." My grip loosened on my knife. There was still a reddish tint to it, despite my compulsive washing of the blade earlier.

"Heh, I like this kid." Undyne laughed.

There was the sound of the door opening, and a voice said, "I smell tea. Is there enough for one more?" I turned my head to see Asriel coming in.

"Jeez, this is like a big damn party." I muttered.

"Oh, sorry, was I interrupting anything?" Asriel asked innocently.

Asgore shook his head. "No, don't worry. Undyne and I are going to go train. There's some pie in the kitchen; you and the girls could go get some."

"Okay, Dad! You two have fun!" To us, Asriel said, "Come on, let's have some pie!" Frisk and I let him lead us to the kitchen.

"Undyne's training should be over in approximately an hour or two. When she is finished training for the day, you can go to Asgore and see if you have magic." Toriel said to us as she took the pie out of the oven. "You must wait a moment or two for the pie to cool, but once it is done, I will give you each a slice."

"Mom makes really good pie." Asriel said.

After around ten minutes, the pie was cooled enough for us to eat it.

The pie was, in a word, incredible. It was flavored with cinnamon and butterscotch, which I never would have guessed would have gone nearly as well together as they did. The filling was creamy, fluffy, and absolutely delectable. The crust was cooked to total perfection. It was flaky, and not even a little burnt. It was puffy, yet smooth at the same time.

I tried to savor this little bite of heaven, but despite my best efforts, it was gone within a few minutes. "This pie is incredible." I said.

"Why, thank you!" Toriel smiled.

"Mom's the best cook in the whole underground!" Asriel said enthusiastically, scarfing down his slice of pie.

The four of us made small talk while we ate, and eventually Undyne came back with Asgore.

"Ha! See you Tuesday, Asgore!" Undyne borderline shouted. (It seemed like she was pretty loud in general.) A grin on her face, she walked out the door.

"Howdy, Dad!" Asriel said.

"Hello, children. Chara, Frisk, are you ready to learn magic?"

I shrugged. "Ready as we'll ever be."

"Come along, then." Asgore brought us outside to the garden.

"Hey, um…" Frisk hesitated for a moment before blurting out, "How the hell am I supposed to do magic if I can't see my hand in front of my damn face?"

Asgore paused for a moment before answering calmly, "It all depends on the color of your SOUL."

"Our what now?" I asked.

"Allow me." Asgore held out his hand towards me, and I felt a strange sensation. It was like my heart was being torn out of my chest, but it wasn't even a tiny bit painful. It was just…weird. As I watched, a glow began to form in front of my chest, and it materialized into a red heart. He then did the same thing to Frisk.

"What the…" Frisk's blank eyes were wide. "What's in front of me?"

"It's your SOUL." Asgore answered. "Human SOULs are incredibly powerful, and there are seven colors that they typically are. They represent your most prominent trait. I have a book explaining it in much better detail than I can; perhaps Chara can read it and explain it to you later. All human SOULs have determination, which is what provides them with their power. You two both have red SOULs, which means that your most prominent trait is determination. Your SOULs are the most powerful type of SOUL. They are powerful enough that, even if you are completely blind, you can still sense magic around you. With enough training, you may even be able to sense your non-magical surroundings, allowing you to 'see', in a sense. It would not be the same as actually seeing, of course, but it would be a good enough replacement for you to function like someone with sight would without any trouble."

"Wow…" Frisk breathed. "How long would it take?"

"At least 2 to 3 years."

"2 to 3 years?" I repeated. "Frisk, can I talk to you? Alone?"

Frisk and I went to the corner.

"What is it, Chara?" Frisk asked.

"I just…I wanted to make sure you're okay with this. I mean, I guess we won't be going to the surface anytime soon regardless, but…"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I can't see, so I want to have a decent replacement, right? And of course, it might be useful for you, too. From what I can tell, it can get pretty dark down here, so it would be helpful even for you."

She did have a point there. Okay. I could go along with this. It seemed like these monsters were nice enough. I would keep my guard up, of course, but I supposed I could relax a bit. Maybe I didn't need to be so clingy with my knife. I'd already ended one life with it; no need to increase that number.

Over the next few weeks, we continued our training. Over time, we gained a basic understanding of how our souls work. A few days after we learned dodging, at which point we'd probably been there for a month-how had it been a month?!-we were officially introduced to the Underground.

Quite a few monsters had already seen us by then, and we were the talk of the Underground, but this made it official and filled in anybody ignorant. We had a sort of welcoming ceremony where the monsters all got to meet us. Frisk went around, making fast friends with just about everyone she talked to-she was good with people like that-but I just hung around Asriel. He made me feel comfortable, somehow. I felt like I knew him from somewhere, but it was beyond me where. Hell, I felt like I knew everyone here, for some reason. But that was ridiculous. He introduced me to some of his friends, and as we talked, I forgot all about that feeling of recognition.


	5. Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone new enters the scene, and it seems like he knows something Frisk and Chara don't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter packed with plot. Next chapter shouldn't be too far off.

Monsters all seemed to be pretty damn excited to meet Chara and I. Surprisingly enough, none of them seemed to be pissed that our kind had imprisoned them down here. I guess they knew it wasn't exactly our fault our ancestors had been jerks. I felt like I knew all of them from somewhere, but…that was impossble.

"Well, hello there, darling!"

The voice was feminine, and it sounded a little echoey. "Uh…hey." I said.

"So, what do you think of the Underground so far?"

"It's…nice." Who was this? She (?) seemed pretty thrilled.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Hapstablook, and you are Frisk, correct?"

I nodded, sticking out my hand.

Awkward.

Silence.

"Um…"

"Oh! My apologies. I'm a ghost; we have no hands." Hapstablook clarified.

Oh. "Okay…this is awkward."

"Don't worry about it; I understand that you're blind."

"Yeah, I am. I can get around alright, though."

"That's lovely." I could practically hear the smile in her voice.

"It's definitely better than if I was just fumbling around." I agreed. "Hey, you're a girl, right?"

There was a pause before Hapstablook responded, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm a girl."

"Just making sure." I answered.

"oh…hey there, hapsta…" Another voice said.

"Oh, hello, Blooky!" Hapstablook said. "I was simply introducing myself to Frisk. Frisk, this is my cousin, Napstablook. They make lovely music; you should listen to it sometime."

"hapsta…she doesn't need to hear about my music…"

"Nonsense, Blooky! Your music is wonderful!"

"Hapstablook and Napstablook, huh?" I giggled.

"Those aren't our real names." Hapstablook clarified. "We just like the way they sound, and our last name is Blook."

"What are your real names, then?" I asked.

"That's my private business!" Hapstablook's voice turned sharp, and I flinched.

"Did I do something?" I asked cautiously.

"No, no, it's nothing." Hapstablook assured me. "My real name's just too girly."

"but you love girly things, hapsta…"

"Sometimes, yes, but my name is not one of them." Hapstablook seemed eager to change the subject, and she did. "In any case, I hope you will be happy here!"

"Believe me, I am." I smiled.

"well, see ya…"

"Goodbye, darling!"

"See you around." I grinned, going back to what I'd been doing previously.

"OH MY GOD! SANS! IT'S THE SMILEY HUMAN!"

I jumped at the borderline yell. Who was that? And smiley human? Really?

"bro, i think ya scared her." A lazy-sounding voice said.

"OH! I AM SORRY, SMILEY HUMAN! MY NAME IS PAPYRUS, AND THIS IS MY BROTHER, SANS!"

"I have a name…" I muttered.

"WHAT IS IT?"

"Fi-" I stopped myself, shaking my head. "Frisk." I said confidently.

"IT'S WONDERFUL TO MEET YOU, FRISK!"

"yep. great to meet ya and your sister. chara, right?"

I nodded. "That's her."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE ARE TWO HUMANS! WOWIE! FRISK, I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE BLIND, SO I WILL LET YOU KNOW THAT SANS AND I ARE SKELETONS! I AM ALSO EXTRAORDINARILY HANDSOME. SANS IS JUST ORDINARILY HANDSOME."

Laughing, I gave him a thumbs-up. "Got it."

"bro, can the kiddo and i talk for a minute in private?"

"OF COURSE, BROTHER!"

There was the sound of footsteps that seemed to radiate excitement, and I took that to mean that Papyrus had left us alone.

"so, kid. i hear you and your sister have determination souls, huh?" Sans calmly asked.

"Yeah, we do." I responded. "Well, Chara's has some justice in there, too, but we're both predominantly determination. Is that a problem?"

"c'mon, kid. you don't have to pretend."

"Pretend what?"

"really, kid. i know exactly what you did."

"Look, Sans," I moved a stray lock of hair in front of my eyes-not like it could make me more blind, and it made me feel less vulnerable, "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"you really don't…"

"Don't what?"

"nothing, kid. i just wanted to say… um… be careful about using the powers that come with determination. that's all; go on. enjoy meeting people."

"…okay, then."

I returned to the party, meeting other nice monsters. There were Froggits, Whimsuns, all sorts of monsters. But that skeleton, Sans…something about him just bothered me. It just seemed like he knew something. Something I didn't. Maybe Chara knew something about him.

"Hey Chara, did you meet that Sans guy?" I asked.

"No, I haven't. Not yet. Why?"

"I don't know. I just…he gives me this weird vibe. It's probably nothing, but I wanted to make sure."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to check."


	6. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara meets Sans and time passes.

I’d just wanted a drink.

Nothing much; just some water. I didn’t think that was too much to ask.

Apparently it was, though. Because if I wanted my water, I would have to get the short skeleton with a blue jacket out of the way. He didn’t even have pupils--just pinpricks of light that seemed to substitute--but despite this, his stare was cold and dead.  


“Um…excuse me.” I said.

He didn’t budge.

“Look, you’re in the way of the cups, and I’d really like something to drink. So, if you wouldn't mind moving over-”

“what’s my name?”

“I don't know.” I answered. “I’ve never even met you! Now, please-”

“kid, seriously.”

“Seriously  _ what?! _ ” I demanded.

“ **What is my name?** ” His tone darkened, and the lights in his eye sockets vanished.

“I already told you, I don't know! Now please,  _ move! _ ”

“don’t screw with me, kid.”

“I-I’m not screwing with you!” I exclaimed. “I swear, I haven’t got a damn clue what your name is, who you are, or why you expect me to know either of those things!”

“do you really…”

“Really  _ what?! _ ”

“whatever. if you’re lying, ya can’t keep it up forever.”

And with that, he was gone. There was no stomping off, no promise to get us, not even any poof of smoke at the very least. He was just gone. No one else seemed to notice the sudden outburst--that, or they didn’t care. Finally, I got my water, and then…I bumped into yet  _ another  _ skeleton.

“HELLO, OTHER HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” 

I flinched. “Um...hi?”

“AND THE SHORT ONE OVER THERE IS MY BROTHER, SANS!”

“Oh…okay.”

He kept talking a mile a minute, but I couldn’t hear him over my blood roaring and heart pounding in my ears. When he pointed to the short skeleton--Sans, apparently--from before, God, I swear I had a heart attack. He was far away-- _ impossibly  _ far away. Even if he had used some sort of a diversion trick or something to get away, there was no way in hell that he could’ve gotten that far. 

Ugh. Whatever. I was tired. It was probably nothing. Really, it would make sense for me to have weird visions like this--for the love of God, I’d  _ murdered  _ someone. Plunged that knife straight into her chest. What had I  _ thought  _ was going to happen? Frisk kept giving me crap about how I’d had to do it, and it was in self-defense, and dammit, at this point I wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince. Did she not want to believe that her sister was a cold-blooded murderer, or did she not want this to haunt me for the rest of my life? I didn’t even know.

When I tuned back into reality, I was back in the castle. I didn’t know when or why I’d started walking; my body had just been on autopilot, since I’d been panicking too much to control it. I just needed to get away from that meet-and-greet-esque thing, away from that skeleton, away from  _ everything. _

* * *

“There’s definitely something up about that Sans guy.”

Frisk was lying on her bed, glazed-over eyes directed towards the ceiling, when I said it. “You can say that again.” She agreed. “It feels like he knows something. Something we don’t.”

“But he expects us to know it.” I said. “He asked me what his name was before, and he refused to believe me when I said I didn’t know. He said something about how I couldn’t keep it up forever if I was lying, but…why would I lie about that?”

“He made a big deal about our Determination SOULs.” Frisk said. “I think I heard him say something about how we ‘really don’t remember.’”

“Don’t remember  _ what? _ ” I exclaimed. “We’d never even met him before today!”

“He doesn’t seem to agree.” Frisk replied.

“He’s hiding something, that’s for damn sure. It has to do with us. And I’m damn well going to find out what it is.”

* * *

Fight. Act. Item. Mercy. In the following weeks, we learned so much about those things that I could probably recite everything about them from memory. Apparently a fight involving the SOUL revolved around them, and Toriel had quite a strong opinion about the first of those four.

_ “Children, fighting is only the last of your last resorts. I trust that you will only do it if you are absolutely positive that there is no other option.” _

I couldn’t meet Toriel’s gaze without being flooded with guilt for a month after that.

The section of the Underground we lived in was apparently called New Home.  _ “Dad’s never been good with names,”  _ I remembered Asriel telling us. It took a while, but Frisk was eventually able to navigate New Home without falling.

And me? Well, eventually I was able to put down my knife for weeks--months, even--on end without instinctively grabbing it when I felt threatened. Frisk was proud, to say the least.

I don’t know how, but a year went by when we weren’t looking. This strange new world became our new normal, and I was starting to like it here. To feel comfortable, like maybe I belonged.

Honestly, I was beginning to put the past behind me, too. The key phrase, though, was  _ beginning to _ . The memories of what I’d done never left me alone completely; my sins never really stopped crawling on my back. But no matter how bad it got, I never mentioned it--not to Toriel, not to Asgore, hell, not even to Asriel or Frisk. Because they would just try and help me, and as much as I cared about them, it wouldn’t do anything. There was no way they could help me, and God knew I couldn’t help myself, so I would just live with it. I deserved it, after all.


	7. Buttercups (Part 1 of 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year after the events of the previous chapter, the trio learns to make pie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We split this chapter into two parts because there's a POV switch halfway through. Enjoy!

“Wait up, Chara! Jeez!” Asriel panted breathlessly.

“Ha, you wish!” Chara shouted back. “Not much of a race if I let ya catch up, is it?”

“I still don’t get how I’m supposed to time your race!” I called, pushing back my bangs, which I’d let grow long over the past year. “Remember these? Y’know, the eyes that don’t function whatsoever?”

“Frisk, it’s supposed to be a Determination exercise for you!” Asriel exclaimed. “Use your SOUL! We’re getting pretty close; you should be able to sense us now!”

“Alright!” I focused all of my energy into my SOUL, reaching out into the surrounding area. I couldn't see it, not really--a more accurate term would be that I felt it, or maybe that I sensed it. I could feel their SOULs, dashing across the garden, and moments after, I felt Chara’s SOUL cross it.

“Chara wins!” I yelled.

“Aww…man…” Asriel huffed.

“Better luck next time, Azzy.” Chara sounded unfazed.

“You…said that…last time…and the time…before that!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault I’m faster than you.” I could practically  _ hear  _ the smirk in Chara’s voice. “But on an unrelated note, I’m pretty sure Toriel’s making pie. How ‘bout we take a break and go get ourselves some?”

“Yeah, totally!” Asriel exclaimed. 

I don’t know how, but a year had gone by since we’d fallen. Our training had picked up speed; I actually had a basic idea of what was going on around me now.

“Morning, Mom!” I said as we climbed up the steps from the garden to the kitchen.

“Good morning, children.” Mom replied.

“We’re taking a break, and we smelled pie, so we figured we’d get some.” Asriel told her.

“Yeah. This whole training thing is cool and all, but it’s getting pretty intense.” Chara added.

“It’s super useful, though.” I said. “I can ‘see’ more using determination than I could before.”

“That is wonderful. Asriel, would you mind turning off the stove? I need to clean up this spill here.”

“Sure thing, Mom!”

“Hey, Toriel…” Chara paused, “How do you make pie, exactly? I mean, it’s  _ really good _ . Think we could learn sometime?” Even though I’d taken to calling Toriel ‘Mom’ months ago, Chara had never seemed comfortable doing it. Whenever I asked her about it, she seemed to clam up.

“Yeah; it’s the best.” I agreed.

“Heh, yeah, I never thought about that. It would be great to know for when you’re busy.” 

“Well, I suppose you are old enough to operate the stove. I could show you the recipe one day and help you cook it, if you wish.”

“Yes, definitely!” I nodded energetically.

“I am going to tidy the dining room; now that I think about it, I could give you three the recipe for the pie, and you can try to make it. I am sure that Asgore would love it if you surprised him with some! Just let me know if you need help, will you?”

“‘Course.” Chara answered as Toriel left the room.

“Okay, I’ve got the recipe.” Asriel said. “Chara, get us bowls, spoons, and a mixer. I’ll grab the ingredients.”

“What do I do?” I asked.

“Stand there and look pretty,” Chara offered.

“I mean, okay, but if that’s my job, then I don’t know if I’m doing it right.”

There was a beat before Chara said, “You’re doing a great job! Just keep up the good work until we need someone to stir; you can do that.”

“Alright, then.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the utterly serious tone she used.

Asriel read the instructions, Chara put in the ingredients, and I stirred whenever necessary. I’d expected to feel useless during the process, but surprisingly, it felt like a real team effort.

Things came to a halt when we reached the butter, though.

“Okay, the recipe says we need two cups of butter, but we’re all out.” Asriel said.

“Maybe we could use buttercups.” Chara reasoned. "I mean, it's in the name, right? Cups of butter. Buttercups."  


“Yeah, that seems logical.” I agreed. “I think I know where some are, and I could definitely use the navigation practice.”

It only took a few minutes for me to find the flowers; I was definitely improving. “Found them!” I called.

“Okay, great.” I could vaguely sense Asriel coming up to my right. After a brief moment, he said, “Alright, got them. Come on, let’s go!”

The buttercups mixed into the batter without a problem, and soon, the pie was ready, its sweet scent wafting through the kitchen.

When Dad got home, we surprised him with a slice of the pie we’d made ourselves! It wasn't as good as Mom’s, but we hadn’t expected it to be. For a few hours, we were proud.

And then those hours passed.

“Oh dear, oh dear,  _ oh dear! _ ” I heard Mom exclaim. “One of you, call Dr. Gaster immediately! Asgore is ill!”

The doctor was busy with keeping what he called the Core stable and making sure it didn’t detonate, so he sent his intern, Alphys.

“I-I’m here! Where is he?”


	8. Buttercups (Part 2 of 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen. (I spent five minutes trying to summarize this; don't judge me.)

“I-I’m here! Where is he?”

“He is in here.” Toriel called. “He is lying down.”

“W-what a-are his symptoms?” Alphys asked.

“He is in a lot of pain, he is vomiting and there is blood in it, and he has blisters around his mouth.”

“It sounds like buttercup poisoning.” Alphys said. “Has he come into contact with buttercups recently?”

“I do not think so.” Toriel answered. “The last thing he came into contact with before his illness started was a slice of pie.”

“Um…actually, he did.” I interrupted.

“What?"

“The recipe called for cups of butter, but we were out of butter, so w-so  _ I  _ thought we could use butter cups as a substitute. I’m sorry.” I didn’t know why I was sad, but when I reached up to rub my eyes and get rid of that strange mistiness, my fingers came away damp. God, I’d actually grown to  _ care  _ about them, but now I’d gone and gotten Asgore sick. Why the hell was I such an idiot? Where had I gotten the idea that a  _ flower  _ would replace  _ butter?  _ Yeah, so I didn’t know crap about cooking and I didn’t care much for it, but I had common sense, at least! What part of putting flowers in a recipe had anything to do with common sense? I could vaguely sense the mistiness leaking out of my eyes, but I didn’t care. It was what I deserved.

“Oh, Chara, it will be alright.” I heard Toriel say. “I suppose I should have checked up on you, rather than leaving the three of you to your own devices. Asgore will be alright, do not worry. He is very strong, and he did not consume more than a slice of the pie. Consider this a learning experience.”

Toriel took the three of us into her arms, hugging us tightly. “It will be okay, children. It will be okay.”

_ The young girl rolled up the left sleeve of her oversized blue sweater, rubbing a whip mark on her arm. “Clarissa, i-it really hurts.” Her brown eyes were teary, and she was running a hand through her short dark hair.  _

_ “H-hey, don't cry. It's gonna be okay, I promise. Someday, we'll get out of this backwards place. We’ll find a nice house by a lake or something like that, and we’ll live together! We just need to pull through until then, and Fiona, I’ll make sure it happens.” The girl sitting beside her had red eyes and a green sweater with a single yellow stripe. She leaned over on the small mattress and hugged the other girl. _

_ “Y-you really think so?” _

_ “I know so.” _

_ “Y o u ‘ r e j u s t  a s  b a d  a s  m e, C l a r i s s a.  S e  e   y  o  u   i  n   h   e   l  l…” _

All I could think of was those twelve words. The last words she’d ever said to me.

I really was bad as her.

Just like before, what I’d done registered in my mind all at once. I’d screwed up again.

I didn’t realize I was laughing until I looked around and saw everyone’s concerned faces.


End file.
